


A wild Magikarp appeared!

by Drifting_clouds



Series: A fish named Robb [1]
Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: M/M, and Magikarps, because they are the best Pokemon ever
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-08
Updated: 2016-08-08
Packaged: 2018-08-07 13:19:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7716277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drifting_clouds/pseuds/Drifting_clouds
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>And then there's that moment when you run into your crush and try to make a great first impression. And Robb certainly does. Sort of. It's all Rickon's fault, anyway. Not to mention that stupid red fish.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A wild Magikarp appeared!

**Author's Note:**

> This is what happens when I get a little obsessed with Pokemon Go. The fic is not betaed and English is not my mother tongue so I'm sorry for the poor spelling, grammar, etc...

_It is Rickon’s fault_ , Robb Stark had time to think in that single, perfect moment of clarity before utter catastrophe hits and time expands and almost completely stands still. Only three hours before he had been sitting in his living room as his little brother shut the exercise book in front of him with a snap, letting everyone know that he had just finished his homework. Under normal circumstances, this event alone would be considered nothing short of one the signs of the apocalypse, but not when the eight-year-old boy had to go out and catch wild Pokemon in order to win his personal challenge against Shireen Baratheon and Lyanna Mormont.

So Catelyn had looked up from the classworks she had been grading to give him THAT look that clearly meant _you’re the only responsible adult in the house apart from me_ _so take care of your little brother_ (sensing danger Jon had managed to slink back into the safety of his room before he could be persuaded to go with them). Today, he had discovered as they hopped on the River Line to Casterly Rock with Shaggydog duly on the lead, they were supposed to catch water-type Pokemon. _We are going here, here and here_ , Rickon had pointed at three specific spots on the map with the determination of a general on the eve of battle. Robb had nodded absently as Jon (the bloody bastard) and Ygritte pretended to sympathise with him on Whatsapp, but then the girl had mentioned Robb’s current crush living somewhere in the Banefort district, which happened to be the final spot that Rickon had picked for his hunt, and his mood had at least improved a little...

After two hours of walking and staring at his little brother catching silly-looking creatures that included a giant two-headed ostrich inexplicably standing on a rock and a yellow duck with a huge head and vacant eyes, Robb didn’t really care about his crush anymore. His feet hurt and Rickon had almost managed to sneak into an adult store to catch a Pikachu, not to mention that they had already got lost twice in the winding, maze-like streets of the old harbour district. They were crossing a park that judging from the patches of weeds in the flower beds had definitely seen better days, when Rickon pointed at something on his phone:

“It’s a Magikarp!” he shouted as he sprinted forward and squeezed through a small opening between some bushes, disappearing out of sight. “Robb hurry!”

Shaggy let out a sharp bark and gleefully chased after his young master, dragging Robb (whose only task so far had been to keep the huge dog out of trouble) along with a yelp that quickly turned into a string of curses as twigs scraped and clawed at his face and clothes. The narrow trail emerged onto a walking path that ringed the pond in the middle of the park. Inside the pond there was not only the Magikarp, but also a big, fat duck placidly swimming in the greenish water without a single care in the world. Shaggy didn’t see the Magikarp – after all he knew nothing of augmented reality – but the duck was real, it was right in front of him so he picked up his pace and dashed at the water, heedless of Robb desperately shouting for him to stop as he stumbled out of the bushes.

Unfortunately for Shaggy, though, a person stood between him and his duck and Robb only had time to register the flash of surprise in the green eyes that turned to look at them before the dog swerved to the left baying like a hellhound to avoid the sudden obstacle and the bird took flight in a rustle of wings.

When the lead finally slipped off his wrist, Robb instinctively tried to pirouette to the left, but he stumbled and knocked the other person down instead, with a tackle that would have made a rugby player proud and propelling both of them into the pond with a startled _oh, fucking hell_ as they landed into the murky water.

“So much for keeping an eye on me…” Rickon said smugly from the shore as he stopped trying to catch the Pokemon long enough to take several pictures of his older brother still lying in the cold water in utter shock “Wait until mom knows about this!”

Robb growled as the eight-year-old started laughing so hard that he was practically doubled over and Shaggydog danced in a circle around him with his tongue lolling out. The other person that he had taken with him just sat where he’d landed, too stunned to move.

“Oh man, I’m so sorry” Robb blushed scarlet, stumbling to his feet and basically standing there in the middle of the pond while rivulets of water cascaded from his clothes and hair.

Because the person staring at him was the new kid who had recently transferred to their high school. _Theon Greyjoy_ , Ygritte had supplied the name with a knowing smirk when she had noticed how Robb kept staring at him during lunch break. _He’s cute_ , she had whispered with a little shake of her head, _but a bit of an asshole, I’m afraid_ (Jon had nodded at that, glaring at the boy eating in a corner of the cafeteria). He had meant to ask for more details but right then Theon had looked up and their eyes had met for a moment and he’d kind of forgotten what he was about to say as Ygritte chortled and elbowed him in the ribs.

The sun was setting and in the low light the green, cat-like eyes staring at him were luminous and just as beautiful as he remembered them.

“I caught the Magikarp!!” Rickon shouted in triumph, breaking the spell with a high-pitched squeal “Hey Robb, did you hear-“

“A Magikarp?” Theon said in disbelief “Did I just land into a filthy pond because of a Magikarp?”

Robb just gaped at him, mouth opening and closing like a beached fish.

“I mean… had it been a Tentacruel or a Poliwrath I could totally understand” he continued, shaking his head as a corner of his mouth curled upwards in a little smirk “even a Goldeen with decent CPs has its merits… but I wouldn’t have bothered to run like you just did for nothing less than a better Dragonite than the one I have…”

“You have a Dragonite??”

Grinning at the wide-eyed admiration, Theon just stared at the eight-year-old boy with a look on his face that clearly said _who do you think I am, kid? Of course I do!_

“Could you help me find one?” Rickon asked bouncing excitedly “My brother is totally useless!”

“Yeah, I can see that. He looks like someone who can’t tell a Meowth from a Mewtwo…”

Not bothering to answer, Robb took an extra careful step towards the other boy to help him up, hoping that the slippery pond floor wouldn’t turn him into an even bigger fool that he felt at the moment.

“You are about to apologize again, aren’t you?”

Robb nodded weakly.

“Don’t bother” Theon said with a huff “And help me up, instead…”

Robb nodded again and held out a hand that Theon grasped, allowing himself to be pulled to his feet without managing to hide a pained grimace on his face.

 “Are you all right?” Robb asked.

Dismissing the concern with a testy _weak ankles_ , Theon took a first step, but his left leg almost gave way under his weight and he stumbled onward with a hiss of pain, desperately clutching at Robb’s arm to keep from falling. Before Robb could be bold enough to wrap an arm around Theon’s waist, the young man took a second tentative step that went definitely better and he slowly limped out of the water to sit on a bench.

Robb sat down beside him with a sigh and cast him an oblique glance. Theon did the same and they both started to chuckle, bursting into laughter as Shaggydog trotted towards them with his most ingratiating canine grin only to get sidetracked by a fish in the pond and jumping into the water instead.

“Hey, Robb do you want to see my Magikarp?” Rickon asked as he waved his phone in front of his brother’s face, grinning from ear to ear.

“Well, since I just fell into a pond because of… that THING is a Magikarp??”

“Yep.”

“And you named it ROBB?”

Theon laughed at that.

“You did?” he asked the boy.

“Yep.”

“Thanks a lot Rickon! This must be the most useless Pokemon ever!”

“Magikarp is not useless!” gasped the others in affronted unison.

“It’s a big, red, gaping fish!”

“Okay, I must admit that it looks pathetic and that it pretty much only splashes around” Theon acknowledged with a small shrug “but all you need is a bit of patience and even the humble fish Robb will blossom into a magnificent sea monster-slash-flying dragon!”

“Oh great… am I the ugly duckling now?”

Theon scoffed at that.

“You’re not ugly… nor a duckling, otherwise you’d be a Psyduck” he hastened to add as he realized what he had just said “No my friend, a Gyarados is more like Carrie White covered in pig’s blood on prom night as she gets revenge on the bullies by razing an entire town to the ground with telekinesis…”

“And I only need sixty-five more Magikarps to get one!”

“Sixty-five?? Well, at least I’m hard to get…”

Theon shook his head, but he gave Robb a smile so bright that for a long moment he forgot he was actually supposed to breathe.

“Now, you’re just fishing for compliments” Theon grinned. “But, yes fish Robb, you’re precious… definitely a mile different from those common Pokemon that everyone seems to catch!”

Night was falling quickly and the streetlights around them turned on, flooding the park with a pale, ghostly light. A terse breeze from Pyke was blowing and Theon hunched his shoulders and shivered from the cold that seeped through his wet hooded sweater, casting a wary look around the deserted path as if the stillness made him feel ill at ease.

“I’d offer you my jacket, but...”

“What? Oh, no, don’t worry” he mumbled when he noticed that Robb had lapsed into silence and was looking at him as if he expected some kind of answer “I-I don’t live far.”

“Come on, I’ll walk you home, then...”

“There’s absolutely no need to!”

“No, I insist... the night is dark and full of terrors, after all.”

 _You have no idea_ , Theon thought as a cold shiver ran down his spine. _My sweet summer child, you don’t know what real terror is_.

“When you put it like that, I don’t see how I could refuse your offer” Theon conceded with a little grin as he stood and took a careful step to test his ankle “Maybe I could even let you borrow a jacket before you catch pneumonia or turn into some kind of wet dream for half of the people on the subway...”

Robb snorted, hoping that the faint light would hide his blushing and the two of them walked slowly side by side as Rickon darted ahead with Shaggy in search of night Pokemon.

“By the way, I’m Theon…”

“Greyjoy” Robb finished for him “Yeah, I kinda know who you are...”

“You do?”

“I do” Robb nodded, wondering why Theon sounded so genuinely puzzled that someone had noticed his arrival at school. “You’re in the same Science class as my friend Ygritte and I asked her about you.”

Again the flash of disbelief in those green eyes took him by surprise, because who wouldn’t have wanted to know everything about that mysterious young man who had turned up at the beginning of the school year? And Ros had definitely noticed him as well, at least judging from the bedroom eyes that she constantly gave Theon and that Robb found so annoying…

“Ygritte?”

“Tall girl. Red hair.”

“Ah yes, you mean the one dating that broody fellow who doesn’t know that emos fell out of fashion at least five years ago, right?”

“The broody fellow would be my cousin Jon” Robb said, laughing at the description. “That fellow over there, instead, is my little brother Rickon and I am...”

“Robb Stark” Theon grinned “guess who told me that?”

“That girl surely talks a lot!”

 _And I must remember to buy her dinner_ , he thought.

Shrugging, the other boy held out his hand.

“I’m pleased to meet you Robb Stark.”

“Likewise Theon Greyjoy.”

And if their handshake lingered a few moments longer than it should have no one said a thing, also because Rickon came back running and commandeered Theon’s undivided attention until they reached the house where the young man lived.

It was a square, unassuming wooden building on the banks of one of the canals leading to the old harbour and separated from the waterfront by a narrow concrete strip and a low wall. The thin veneer of light blue paint looked so faded that it was almost grey and in several spots it had already started to flake because of the constant salty spray. Beside the door hanged a bleached driftwood with strings of seashells chiming softly in the breeze. A row of mismatched potted plants decorated the shabby wall and Robb noticed part of a small, unruly garden at the back.

 _It’s prettier in summer_ , the young man had mumbled as he glanced at the dark houses flanking the canal as if to apologize for the bleak neighbourhood that had seen better days, but Robb really liked it here. It was quaint and peaceful and so different from the old secluded mansions in the Winterfell suburb with their huge lawns and perfectly trimmed hedges.

“Theon promised me that tomorrow he’s going to take me to a great spot where I can catch a Dragonite!” Rickon grinned as if that alone was the most important news in the world “Oh, he said that you can come as well if you like!”

“How generous of you” he grumbled somewhat sarcastically when Theon reappeared with a tan jacket that he handed him with a grin (and no, Robb definitely did not think about the new Star Wars movie, Poe and Finn and silly things like that!).

“Buy only if you promise that you won’t embarrass us by falling into another pond…”

“I’ll behave myself.”

“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”

“It’s a date.” Robb said without thinking, but before he could stammer out some week excuse or pretend that he was just kidding, Theon nodded.

“It’s a date.” he confirmed, offering him a small, lopsided grin that was simply adorable and thanks the Seven his little brother was staring at him or Robb Stark might have done something unbelievably crazy like kissing Theon there and then like the lead actor in one of those rom-coms Sansa liked so much.

“Your new friend is cool, I like him” said Rickon when the door had closed behind him, patting Shaggydog on the furry head as if complimenting the huge animal for a job well done (and for a moment Robb was pretty certain that his eight-year-old brother had actually said boyfriend instead of friend) “Will you complain again when I ask you to go Pokemon hunting with me?”

Robb shook his head with a grin.

“Cool, because my radar says that there is a Pidgey not too far from here… let’s get going!”

THE END 

**Author's Note:**

> This might be part of an ongoing series...


End file.
